


Heroes Dawn

by rainbowpanda13



Series: Age of Heroes [1]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Superheroes, F/F, F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-26
Updated: 2015-11-02
Packaged: 2018-04-23 09:59:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4872520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowpanda13/pseuds/rainbowpanda13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's no need for superpowers when you've got your own personal hero.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Maybe next time?

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, this is my first fanfic ever, I hope you enjoy it. English is not my first language so please excuse any mistake I might make but please point them out on the comments and I'll try to correct it. I'm going to try and post one or two more chapters and then wait for some feedback to see how this goes.
> 
> Tumblr: http://rainbowpanda13.tumblr.com/

**Carmilla**

 

“Carmilla Karnstein meet Laura Hollis, probably the nicest person on earth!”

 

This had been how LaFontaine introduced the girl to Carmilla at the local pub by end of a rough day. She had given a good look at the girl who was now smiling, talking and laughing with the red haired lab rat and sitting on the tall bench next to her by the bar. Long honey hair, curious brown eyes and a smile that could probably bring joy to the saddest person on earth. She was actually quite beautiful, Carmilla thought while smirking.

 

“So, are you part of the mad scientist squad too?” Carmilla said, looking at Laura.

 

The girl put a strand of hair behind her ear.

 

“No, I’m actually a journalist.” She answered smilling widely.

 

“Friendly reminder to kill LaF”, Carmilla thought while she gave a stern look at her friend.

 

“But don’t worry” The brunette continued seemingly abstracted from this. “I leave my business at the office. And at home. Okay, sometimes I bring it everywhere with me but I promise not to go all Sherlock on you!” She took a quick sip from her beer and LaF laughed.

 

Carmilla tried to keep a straight face through all the rambling but unconsciously felt a smile creeping on her lips.

 

“Don’t be fouled by her innocent exterior.” LaF said pointing at Laura, who pretended to scowl. “This one should probably consider being a detective. She can always get the answers to her questions. One way or another. We actually met at a crime scene. Laura here, was trying to squeeze some information about it and we ended up chatting. Not about the evidence. That would have been inappropriate. And get me fired.” The red haired laughed and caughting up the murderous look in Carmilla’s eyes decided that it was time for a quick escape “I better go and see what Perry is up to. She seems...alone”

 

LaFontaine quickly headed out to join the other red haired at the other side of the room, mumbling “I’m sorry” in an inaudible way to Carmilla. They exchanged worried looks with Perry and she smiled and grabbed their hand, which apparently was enough to bring a shy smile into LaFontaine’s lips. Carmilla swears to God she does not understand how it is possible that this two don’t realize what the rest of the world has known for years.

 

“So, how did you meet?” A decided voice interrupted her thoughts as she looked at the girl right to her left.

 

“What?” She saw Laura put on a cocky smile and put her beer down.

 

“How did you meet LaFontaine, Miss Karnstein?” Her posture had changed from that initial innocent girl to a confident woman. Carmilla let out a small scoff trying to shake it off.

 

“No one has called me that since I was a little girl, so please, don’t.” She looked to her cup, avoiding Laura’s eyes “We met through Perry.” She pointed to the curly red haired girl standing across from LaF. “She is my agent.”

 

“I see. And what is it you write about?” The dark haired girl looked right into Laura’s eyes and smirked.

 

“Should I be offended that you don’t think I’m model material?” This seemed to make the other girl smile as she finished her beer.

 

“The ink.” She said, getting up from her stool and reaching for her bag.

 

“Is that some kind of journalist jargon, cupcake?” Carmilla said, turning to face her. Laura seemed to smile triumphantly at something.

 

“On your hands. Quite an old fashion method, but I can see the appeal.”

 

Carmilla looked at her hands, indeed smudged with ink and she felt a small fire grow on her cheeks. Laura was stretching her hand to pay for her drink but Carmilla grabbed her arm gently.

 

“This one’s on me, cutie”. Cutie? Cutie?? What are you thinking Karnstein? She is a goddamn journalist! We don’t flirt with journalists. We don’t get close to them. We run from them. The other girl looked her in the eyes for a moment and then proceeded to pay the bartender for her drink.

 

“Maybe next time” She smiled widely to Carmilla but she could see something fiery in those hazelnut eyes.

 

She turned to wave a hand at LaF and Perry as she left the bar and in a second that fire seemed to be gone as the, again, innocent looking journalist left the pub. Well, maybe there are still some mysteries in this life after all, Carmilla thought as she smiled, downing her beer and joining her friends.

 

\---

 

It wasn’t much later when Carmilla entered her house. Sometimes she thought the mansion was a bit too much just for her but she couldn’t simply get rid of it. Besides, it wasn’t like she owned it. It belonged to Will too, her brother. But when he was away, which was most of the time, this big house seemed like a mausoleum. She crossed the entrance hall and stopped in front of the stairs looking at the picture hanging on the wall next to it. Everyone was smiling, happy, and she missed it. Not those times. Well, it wasn’t all bad but -. She missed having something to smile about. Or someone.

 

She shook her head to get rid of these thoughts and went downstairs, turning on the lights. The room had a dim light, just as she liked it. There were candles which she started to light.

 

_“Quite an old fashion method, but I can see the appeal.”_

 

She smiled. There was a sofa, a table and a chair at the room but mainly there were bookshelves, filled with books and manuscripts. The table was filled with papers, pens and pencils, a complete mess but her mess. She knew how to navigate through it. This was were she had written all her books after all. Approaching the wall behind her table she stopped.

 

“To bend is not to break” She said in her usual raspy voice.

 

A low humming sound followed by a click revealed a crack on the wall and Carmilla got in it. It would still get her, this voice activated totally geeky system that LaFontaine had asked JP to install in her writing room as she liked to call it. The crack lead directly to what the mad red haired scientist liked to call “The Lair”. She smiled, she could almost hear their voice saying it. The room had computers and glass stands with weapons, mostly spears, staffs and fighting sticks. She didn’t like using blades. Or fire guns. The idea was not to kill, simply restrain. There was a training station with several training devices and on the far corner of the room a mini lab. Yeah, they were a pain but LaF had created most of her weapons from scratch right on that table. Besides, and no one would catch her saying it out loud but, she enjoyed having her around.

 

The raven haired girl grabbed the newspaper from the stand where she had left it, looking through the pages for the article she had read the day before. “NighShadow: friend or foe?”. There was a photo of a blurred shadow, a woman’s figure dressed in what seemed like a long black coat with a hoodie and red hair. She smiled. That had been the closest they’d ever been to taking her picture. Ever since she had made her first official appearance they had been looking for a name. It all had started with her stopping some minor robbery after she had come back from college, three years ago, but it had turned into something else. Something bigger. Not right away of course. There had been endless nights of thinking she was insane for risking her own life for the sake of others but what did she have to lose? She had pretty much lost everything, except Will. Then she started training. Her strength grew. Both physically and mentally. It was almost a year after that first robbery that she went out again. This time properly suited, armed, trained. She hadn’t stopped ever since. And the cops were never able to get her. They had tried a couple of times, but soon realized it was better to have her around has a friend rather than locking her in a cell. Not that they could catch her anyway. She couldn’t help to think that maybe if there had been someone to help when she was a kid, things could be different today.

 

She shook her head. NightShadow wasn’t so bad. She never wanted a nickname or the fame. But still, as nicknames are concerned, she had been lucky. She scanned the article and a name caught up her attention. She read it several times. Laura Hollis. Damn it. There it was. Two years those dimwits journalists had been trying to come up with some witty nickname and it had to be her. “Where did you come from Laura Hollis?” She said to herself while smiling and throwing the newspaper back to the sofa. There was something about this girl and she was going to find out what it was. “Better to keep your friends close and enemies closer.” She took off her black tank top and leather pants and put on some training clothes. Then she headed to the training station stopping on the way to turn on the radio connected to the police frequency.

 

 

 

**Laura**

 

Laura had finished yet another crappy article about some the glorious shenanigans and she let of a large sight while dropping her head against the back of the couch. She hated this kind of journalism. There was no truth seeking, just the endless pursuit for readers who don’t know how to enjoy anything else because it is never presented to them! She stopped and stared at the bookshelf across the room. No point in getting all worked up Hollis, you’ll just have to change the world one article at a time. And if for every truth seeking one you have to write five about this- Wait, am I rambling to myself?

 

She got up, putting her computer on the table and walked across her tiny leaving room to the kitchen. Her apartment was small, just like she needed it. She could cross the whole thing in less than 10 seconds, which was good because she was always on a hurry. Grabbing some hot cocoa she returned to the room. It had only been a month since she arrived so she didn’t really know anyone except for LaFontaine. They had been friendly but she wasn’t sure she could call them a friend just yet. Taking a sip from her Doctor Who mug she waked past the sofa to the bookshelf. Today had actually been the first day she had gone out since she arrived. And she ended up meeting someone interesting.

 

_“This one’s on me, cutie”_

 

Cutie. That brought a smile to her face.

 

_“Maybe next time”_

 

That had been extremely sassy of her. She could feel her own cheeks warming up with the thought. Way to go with self restraint Laura. You didn’t come here to make acquaintances, you came to work your heart out and find who the hell is this NightShadow girl. She was quite proud of the nickname she had come up with because, really! This girl had been roaming around the city for two years, saving everyone’s ass and they couldn’t even come up with a decente name? Not that it was about the name, what is relevant is the facts and the facts are that she has been cleaning up this city, so the name is not that relevant but it is nice to have a way of identifying this – Rambling again Hollis, rambling again.

 

She settled the mug on the bookshelf, retrieving an old photograph. It showed two younger girls, smiling. A very tall and long red haired girl was giving a piggy back ride to Laura, who had her arms thrown back in the air while the other girl grabbed her legs and smiled looking up to her. Laura felt her eyes filling with tears, although she couldn’t help but smile.

 

 

_“I’m going to fall Danny!!”_

_“I won’t let you fall, I promise! Trust me, shorty.” Danny said grabbing Laura’s legs tight._

_“Don’t call me shorty, I am only short by your giant standards!” The brunette said trying to be mad but grabbing onto the red haired’s neck in terror._

_“Here we go, are you ready?” Danny smiled and Laura was going to say no but she had no time because the tall one was already running at full speed._

_Laura had been terrified for a couple of seconds but then felt free, the wind blowing on her face and hair. Soon she’d let go and was screaming her lungs out, with her hands no longer grabbing her friends neck but waving in the air, in happiness as they crossed across the campus. She felt happy. Alive._

 

 

She cleaned the tears from her face, her breath uneven.

“I’ll find her Danny, I promise.”


	2. Maybe that’s something worth trying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's no need for superpowers when you've got your own personal hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, this is my first fanfic ever, I hope you enjoy it. English is not my first language so please excuse any mistake I might make but please point them out on the comments and I'll try to correct it. I'm going to try and post one or two more chapters and then wait for some feedback to see how this goes.

**Carmilla**

 

Carmilla jumped on her bike and drove in full speed across the streets, her long black coat flying behind her, the bright red hair that escaped from the hoodie thrown back in the air.

 

 _“60 seconds”_ Announced a man’s voice.

 

She fixed her black mask slightly, this last model was a lot more comfortable than the last one, only covering around her eyes. LaFontaine was getting pretty good at this.

 

_“40 seconds”_

 

“I’ll get there in 20”

 

 _“One of these days you’re going to get yourself killed Carmilla.”_ She heard a stern motherly voice say.

 

 _“Better you than us!”_ Said the mad scientist. She heard a punch noise on the background _“Ouch Perr! She knows I’m just kidding!”_

 

She smirked. Those dorks. Her dorks.

 

“How many of them?”

 

_“The police reported three suspects on a gray van, fleeting from the bank.”_

 

“I have eyes on them.”

 

Carmilla could see the van and, through the mirror, two figures that appeared to be male. Stepping on the gas she approached the van from the drivers side.

 

“You have ten seconds to stop this van!” She shouted, looking inside the van. You would be surprised by how many times this actually worked. She guessed some people just preferred to go directly to prison without visiting the hospital first.

 

“Fuck you bitch!” Well, not these ones.

 

“I warned you”

 

She quickly took her staff from the handle on her back and shove it through the window. The glass shattered and she covered her face with the hoodie. The driver was knocked out and his partner was trying to keep the van from crashing. Carmilla gave him a stern look and he managed to stop the van, looking back at her in fear.

 

“Get the hell out!” She ordered as she hopped off the bike.

 

The man obeyed. She tied him to a street lamp and took out the unconscious driver from the van to do the same. As she was doing so, she heard a crack and then steps.

 

“You don’t want to do this.” She said calmly.

 

“Oh yeah? I’m the one holding the gun! So untie my partners and get the hell out of my face before I blow it!”

 

She smirked, turning around to face the man with a gun pointed at her face. It took two seconds to see the slight shaking of his grip.

 

“You’ve never even fired a gun before did you?”

 

“Shut up! I’ll shoot you, I swear to God I will! Untie them! Now!!” He looked at his partners for a second and that was all it took for Carmilla to grab his arm.

 

_“Carmilla! Are you okay?”_

 

The guy was just a kid but he was stronger than he looked. Still, Carmilla kept a strong grip on his arm. Then the gun went off.

 

_“Carmilla!!”_

 

But he was already down and she disposed of the weapon. Luckily she had been able to point the gun at the sky just before it went off.

 

She took a couple of seconds to breathe in before reporting back. “I’m fine. Just a minor incident.” She put her staff back in place and hoped on the bike again.

 

“The suspects are down.” She had managed to take the gun from the guy just in time and knock him down with its handle. “How much time until the police arrives?”

 

 

**LaFontaine**

 

She looked at the boy sitting next to her, waiting for him to finish his computer analysis.

 

“30 seconds” Said the computer geek and she smiled and nodded, repeating the information back to Carmilla.

 

“I’ll be home in 15 minutes”

 

Perry was pacing around the room ever since she heard the gun shots. Poor Perry, she would always get a nerve wreck when things got a little out of handle but she still insisted around, as much as she could. JP was staring at the computer screen watching as the dot that represented Carmillas bike swam across the city roads. He had been just a kid when he arrived at the police station asking for a job. LaFontaine remembers it well because he looked so frightened, just like they did back when they arrived. Everyone laughed of course. But then again they laughed at them too, almost every day until they proved themselves very useful in the lab. Sticks and stones they guess. His hair was a little messy and he needed a good shave. They barely saw him these days, since he had gotten a second job. They gave him a good look. He had grown so much this past years.

 

“Good job Jeep. Keep up the good work” He smiled at her, openly, as a kid does when receiving praise from a parent, and nodded.

 

They looked around. Perry kept pacing. Jesus, if they don’t stop her she might burn her shoes with all that walking. They got up and walked up to her, putting themselves in her path to force her to stop. She did, looking at them, her eyes filled with worry.

 

“I am telling you, one of these days she is going to get herself killed LaFontaine. And then I don’t know what we’re supposed to do with all of this.” She swung her arms around pointing at the room.

 

“Well, it would make a great underground pub” They joked smiling at their worried friend. But it only got her to change her gaze from worried to mad in a spit second.

 

“This is not a joke LaF. She is out there almost every night putting herself on the line. And for what? For this ungrateful little-” LaF moved one step closer, grabbing her hand. That seemed to ease her and they saw her shoulders relax a bit. They were looking at her hand, her beautiful small hand, and they could feel her eyes on them.

 

“She is a tough bone Perr, you know it.” They looked into her eyes. God, was she beautiful. “And she can handle herself. She chose this. All we can do is be here for her.” They squeezed her hand, gently rubbing her thumb against her palm “And for each other.” 

 

This seemed to wipe almost all the worries from her face as she sighed and gave a shy smile back to them. LaF smiled proudly and just stared back into her childhood friend’s eyes. Those blue eyes just staring back at them, her head now slightly reclined to the right in and inquisitive way. They want to tell her. They think she knows. She has to. But why isn’t she saying anything then? She won’t, they know Perry much too well to know that she will always wait for others to tell her what’s wrong even if she has already known it for ages. But this isn’t wrong is it? It can’t be. The way they feel around her can’t be wrong. Everytime she so much as looks at them and smile, they think their chest is going to explode. The question being: does she feel the same? They have been friends since 5, there isn’t much they don’t know about each other. Hell, there’s probably nothing. Except this. This feeling that is eating them inside, it wants to come out, to be free, but they can’t loose Perry. Not her. Everyone else except her. And they won’t drive her away just because of their feelings.

 

“Lafontaine?” Her sweet voice snapped them out of their daydream. “Are you feeling okay?” She pressed her hands against her cheeks gently. They had to summon all their strength not to close their eyes and sink into that gentle touch.

 

“Yes, I’m fine.” They said smiling. Their hand was still on Perry’s hand.

 

“Were you going to say something?” There it was. Take it you stupid brainiac! It was time. She was going for it. She was going to-

 

“I’m wiped!” Said a raspy voice entering the room.

 

Perry quickly took her hands from their face and they felt hollow for a second.

 

They cleared their throat. “Welcome back to your lair mistress of the Dark. Or should I say NightShadow?” She smirked but then remembered about the other night when she had introduced her to Laura. Shit, I’m so dead.

 

“First, stop calling it lair! Second, thanks for the heads up about that journalist friend of yours.” She shot a deadly stare at them.

 

“Okay, okay! Before this gets into a ‘let’s kill the wicked smart scientist who is also our friend’ game, let me explain okay? She is a good person, fair. Did you read what she wrote about you?” They grabbed the newspaper “She is really invested in this crusade of hers to find out who the NightShadow is and I don’t know why but she seems to be on our side. I thought it best to keep her close. Usually the closer things are, the blinder we get right?” They gave a quick look in Perry’s direction and she was looking at her, her gaze unreadable.

 

Carmilla seemed to think for a moment and then gave in and sighed “Fine. But next time a heads up would be nice.”

 

LaFontaine looked at her doing her best imitation of Carmilla. “Don’t act like all tough and broody. I saw the way you looked at her when she left.” They smiled proud of themselves because they could see that Carmilla was getting a slight blush on her cheeks but then felt their leg burn from the strong poke her friend had just delivered with her staff. But she was smiling. Now, that’s something unusual.

 

 

**Laura**

 

She hated being the new girl, she couldn’t wait for someone new to be hired so she could be left in peace to do her work. That sounded so mean. She didn’t want anyone else to suffer from this. She sighed heavily as she walked across the tables to the chief editor’s door.

 

“Excuse me sir, I have your coffee.” There goes yet another drop of my dignity.

 

“Now listen to me! You either deliver that my midnight or we’re done!” Yelled the middle aged man at his phone and signaling her to put the coffee on the table and leave.

 

She did, walking back to her desk and dropping herself on the chair. Only one more day Hollis, as soon as his assistant comes back you’re off the hook and back to full speed investigative journalism. This brought a slight smile to her face, as she wrapped up for the day. She felt tired, exhausted to be honest. But then again, insomnia can cause that, especially when it becomes a permanent thing. She had just finished writing another piece on NightShadow. Who was this girl? What drove her to do all this? Last night she had kicked three guys butts after they robbed the local bank. The brunette smiled, looking at the picture of these guys, tied to a lamp post. She was just the person she needed to help her find the responsible for what happened to Danny. The tiny reporter put her hand on her chest, where she wore almost at all times a necklace, that looked like a really small pen drive. Well, it was just supposed to look that way but it was a real and functional one.

 

The days were getting cold now as September approached and she wrapped herself on her jacket and scarf as she was walking down the street to her biclycle. As she reached the bicycle stand she looked inside the coffee just in front of it and she saw a slightly curled black hair that looked familiar. She smiled and slowed her pace to look carefully at the girl sitting on the corner of the coffee shop, legs spread across the side of the booth she was occupying, newspaper in one hand, cup of coffee on the other. “You are not going inside that coffee shop Laura Hollis.” She thought. But she was already crossing the door. What is it with this girl?

 

She stopped right in front of the booth and the raven haired girl didn’t even flinch, she was totally caught up reading, her dark brown eyes trailing the words on each page. She took the time to look at her, it actually seemed like a scene from a movie.

 

“Can I help you with something?” The other girl said without taking her eyes of the article she was reading. It was the one the brunette had written. My article. This brought a cocky smile to her face.

 

“I was just going to ask you if it was okay for me to seat down but I wouldn’t want to lose a reader, so I’ll just sit at the bar” Her voice seemed to wake up the dark haired girl, whose eyes trailed from the paper to her face. She seemed to be caught by surprise for a moment but then just smiled politely and pointed at the seat in front of her while folding the newspaper and setting it aside.

 

“I thought you were someone else. Coffee?” The brunette nodded and Carmilla signaled the waiter pointing at her own cup. “So what are you doing around here Miss Hollis?”

 

Oh. She so had it coming. She knew she would pay for the other night.

 

“No one actually calls me that, like never. Well, maybe my boss.” She frowned but then smiled “Laura is fine. And I work there.” She pointed at a big building across the street and some blocks ahead. “This is actually my morning and afternoon stop, like every day."

 

“You like the coffee that much?” The other girl said.

 

"I actually just look outside the window, watch the people go by, leading their lives." She smiled, looking outside, partially ashamed about what she had just shared.

 

The other girl didn't seem to judge, just nodding and looking at Laura like she had just said something extremely interesting. "So, the lives outside are more interesting then the ones inside?" There was something of a tease in her voice and Laura picked it up and let out an honest smile.

 

"Some might be worth it." When the other girl didn’t answer she let a small laugh out and looked straight into her eyes.

 

“Was that my article you were just reading?” Carmilla had picked up the newspaper.

 

“Was it? I didn’t really notice.” She said in a disaffected way.

 

“You’re a terrible liar, you know that?” The small brunette said finishing her coffee.

 

“Oh yeah? What makes you say that?” Carmilla was opening it at the page of the article.

 

“That newspaper is from days ago”

 

“Maybe I like old news.” This conversation sounded more and more like a questioning, but Laura was stubborn, she knew, and she did not like to lose.

 

“Maybe. But it’s heavily creased, you can clearly see it has been opened several times on that page.” Laura was now bending over the table, her finger pointing at the evidence, triumphantly. She looked up and caught up with Carmillas gaze, which was now glued in her eyes. They were closer now, the dark haired girl had put herself forward when trying to “hide” the newspaper from the other girl. Laura couldn’t bring herself to sit back down completely, she was lost on the other girls eyes. That’s when she saw them quickly trailing her lips and then back to her eyes and she felt something heavy on her chest which made her snapped out of it, getting up.

 

“Well, it was nice meeting you here but I have to go now” Laura was desperately trying to find her wallet while avoiding the other girls eyes and trying to even her breath.

 

“It’s already paid for.” Carmilla said getting up “Got ahead of you this time, cupcake. May I walk with you outside?” She was smiling, her hands in her pockets and the newspaper under her arm.

 

Laura smiled and nodded, heading for the door. She took the time to get her head straight. What was she thinking, falling for this girls shameless flirt like that? She headed to the bicycle stand and stopped on her bicycles side.

 

“So, this is me. I’ll just be heading home now. Thank you for the coffee, the next one is on me.” The words just came out of her mouth before she could even think.

 

“So, there will be a next one” Carmilla was wearing this devilish smile, seeing Laura struggle to find an answer. But then she looked at the brunettes bicycle and her expression changed. “Hum, as much as I enjoy seeing you struggle with yourself...how are you going to ride that?” She was pointing at the bicycle.

 

Laura looked at it. What does she mean, how am I going to – And then she saw it. The back wheel was completely deformed. Someone had crashed against it. What in the freely hell happened to my bike?

 

“No. No, no, no, no, no.” She leaned to touch the wheel “Oh come on!!” She let herself fall against the bicycle stand and sighed. Then she got up and breathe in decisively. Carmilla was just looking at her, her eyes wide open. Probably thinking I’m a complete lunatic.

 

“Well, I guess it’s walking for me today. I’ll get take care of it tomorrow. Better get going.” The brunette looked at Carmilla and smiled, starting to walk “Thank you again.”

 

“Wait!” This stopped her. “I can give you a ride. That is if you don’t mind.” The other girl was smiling but Laura could hear something of a dare in her voice. She ignored it because the ride would actually be great, she is not feeling like walking so much to get home. “And if you’re not afraid of that” Carmilla was now smiling, such a proud smile, Laura thought, and pointing at a huge black bike. Laura tried to seem disaffected but failed miserably as she smiled widely and walked in the bike’s direction. What a beauty. She walked around it and stopped in front of Carmilla.

 

“I see you like bikes. So is that a yes?” Still, the daring voice. Laura smiled. What the hell, why not? It’s just a ride back home.

 

“Yes.” Carmilla gave her a helmet and they hopped on the bike.

 

And now she was realizing that she had just walked into a trap as she was going to have to grab the other girl during the trip. She could almost see her smiling victoriously through the helmet. And that was when she gave in. You know what? I know how to play this game too. She sat down and started wrapping her arms around Carmilla, her hands slowly trailing from her back to her hips. The other girl stopped for a second and Laura could feel that she stopped breathing. Good. That’ll teach her not to mess with me. That was when she started feeling the other girl’s heart race and her own breath caught.

 

They drove across the streets until she signaled Carmilla to stop as soon as they reached her house. They took their helmets off and she could she that the raven haired girl was still flustered from before. She was trying to act all broody as the previous time they had been together but she could see in her eyes that there was a lot more in her then what she showed. The small brunette hopped off the bike and gave her helmet back to Carmilla.

 

“Thank you for the ride. And the coffee.” The other girl just nodded as she leaned to give a quick peck on Carmilla’s cheek which was warm, against her cold lips. She smiled at the lack of reaction from the other girl and headed home. She only heard the bike working again when she stepped inside the house.

 

“Maybe that’s something worth trying” was the last thing that crossed her mind before she headed to a much needed shower.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing LaF's part on this chapter!
> 
> Thanks for reading. Please leave some feedback! I'm totally open to constructive criticism!!


	3. This is bigger than that

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I have an idea where this is going but not sure how many chapter it will take to get there, so stick around! Have fun!  
> Tumblr: http://rainbowpanda13.tumblr.com/

**Carmilla**

 

 

_Carmilla had to tell her. She just had to. She really liked her. Maybe she even loved her. And she knew the other girl felt the same. They had been together for months now. She could trust her, she wouldn’t judge._

_She had fallen into Carmilla’s arms just like an angel, just when she needed her the most. Dropping out from college, returning home, alone, and then the robbing. It wasn’t that she had a god complex or a death wish or even something to prove. But the feeling of justice, of doing the right thing that day. It clingled to her and she couldn’t shake it. And, oh, she had tried. She was never much of a team player. She never really cared. Why would she care now? Maybe that’s why she felt…alone._

_A year later Carmilla had met her. And she had fallen for her. Right after the first time she made her first official appearance as NightShadow. And now she was going to tell her. She thought about all this as she paced across the room until she finally had the guts to grab her hands and kneel right in front of her, as she was sitting on the sofa._

_“So...you know how I’m always here until late writing?” The other girl nodded. “Well…sometimes I’m not.”_

_She took a deep breath. Her hands were shaking a bit, she could feel them. But she kept going._

_“Have you heard about this woman who his going around in a mask, hmm, helping…I guess?”_

_“I’ve heard she kills.”_

_That felt like a stone, dropping on her stomach. Did she really think that?_

_“Once. And only because it was absolutely necessary.”_

_She blurted out almost immediately, realizing that she had just made an incredibly stupid choice of words. But now the other girls eyes were glued on her, widened, looking for anything that would erase what Carmilla had just said to her._

_“What are you saying Carmilla?”_

_“You know what I’m saying”_

_She was looking at the floor now. And she realized something. She was ashamed of herself._

_“Say it! I want to hear it!”_

_There was something weird in her voice. Something Carmilla had never heard before. This made her head spin with rage, why was she like that? That wasn’t supposed to happen. She was supposed to understand. She always understands. This is not happening._

_“I’m her! There. I’m her. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you but I wanted to protect you-“_

_“You’re a murderer.”_

_Carmilla felt her chest heavy and everything collapsing. The rage on the other girl’s voice and something very close to disgust in her eyes._

_She was getting up and crossing the run and Carmilla was petrified, glued to the floor._

_What was she thinking? Why would she think that this was a good idea? But then she was running up the stairs and screaming._

_“Ell! ELL! Wait!! Let’s talk about this!” She caught up with her by the door._

_“You are a murderer and that’s all you’re ever going to be Carmilla!” She freed herself from Carmilla’s grip “Don’t ever touch me again! Don’t even try to come after me! I don’t want to see you or be near any of this sickness you have!”_

_Sickness? Carmilla felt like she was suffocating. Her vocal chords felt stuck. She couldn’t move. Why couldn’t she move??_

_“No wonder you turned up like this” She wanted to scream but nothing came out. “A murderer. Just like your mother”_

_And then everything was dissolving and there was only darkness. Cold, quiet, creeping. And she was suffocating. Drowning. Alone. She tried to move one last time before her body started to feel very light, but it was hopeless. She let go._

 

Carmilla woke up soaking wet, her baggie t-shirt glued to her back and chest. She took a deep breath trying to understand her surroundings.

How long had it been since she breath?

She grabbed firmly to the sheets. Her bed. She was in her bed. At her home. It had just been a nightmare. Just a nightmare.

Her hands were shaking but her breathing was getting even. In through the nose, out through the mouth. You can do this Karnstein, just breath.

“Jesus Christ…” She let out with a sigh.

And then she was dropping her head heavily on her pillow.

How long until this fucking nightmares go away? She gazed at the ceiling, not daring to close her eyes for a second because she did not want to fall asleep again.

 

 

**Laura**

 

 ** _You [6:30 PM]_** : Hey! Soooo, I’ve got this thing I really have to do before heading home...and I have no idea how much time it’s going to take me, so maybe…you don’t have to wait?

 ** _Carmilla K. [6:36 PM]_** : I’ll wait.

 ** _You [6:37 PM]_** : I really don’t know how much time it’s going to take...

 ** _Carmilla K. [6:38 PM]_** : I have time.

 

Laura sighed.

 

 ** _Me [6:39 PM]_** : You could be writing, you know? Putting your time to a better use than just waiting for me?

 ** _Carmilla K [6:40 PM]_** : I’ll be waiting, cupcake.

 

Laura rolled her eyes but smiled at the phone. The nicknames. She had found them annoying in the begining. But now...they kind of grew on her.

She threw her cell back in her computer backpack and headed out of work.

It had been like this for two weeks now. She would get out of work and walk to the little coffee shop where Carmilla would be waiting. They would talk…well, she would do most of the talking to be honest, but Carmilla would pitch in now and then, even when she insisted that the topic was boring or “just not mind challenging enough, cupcake”. I was nice feeling like she had a friend again

 

***

 

_Since the incident with the bicycle Laura would walk to work everyday in the morning._

_The day after Carmilla had driven her home, she came back from work prepared to walk all the distance back home but as she walked in front of the coffee shop she saw her. She was not sitting on the same spot as the day before. No, she was at the window, facing her way. Was she waiting-?_

_She really didn’t have to finish that thought because Carmilla saw her and, smiling, made a slight sign with her head as to say “Join me”._

_“So…is this going to be a thing?” Laura said smiling playfully and sitting down in front of Carmilla. “Because I’ve got to say, as stalkers go you are not the creepiest I’ve known.”_

_The other girl let a small laugh out and closed the book she apparently had been reading._

_“Don’t flatter yourself cupcake, I’m here on business.” She stopped for a couple of seconds before continuing. “Do you want some coffee?”_

_Laura refused, she had already reached her quota for the day._

_Now she was curious, looking at the other girl who drank her coffee slowly before she continued._

_“I just thought I could offer you a deal.”_

_Okay, that was…weird?_

_“And what kind of deal are we talking about?” Laura replied apprehensively._

_Carmilla stared at her seriously for a moment before talking. She could tell the girl wasn’t totally sure, there was a slight hesitation to her. Still, her tone masked all of that as she spoke with confidence (but the eyes, the eyes never lie)_

_“I need information you have and you…” She smirked “…are in desperate need of a ride home.”_

_Laura sighed._

_“It is true that walking is not my preferred method of transportation but you should know I am not fond of sharing any type of information about my work with just anybody.” Laura said seriously, her face muscles tense._

_“Oh ouch buttercup…”_

_Carmilla clasped her chest, grabbing dramatically her black t-shirt. Laura felt herself relaxing as a shy smile appeared on her face._

_She could she Carmilla smiling back at her, her face victorious for conquering this one. Why was it that she could feel so at ease with someone she barely knew?_

_“Besides…you don’t even know what I’m going to ask” She said._

_“It’s NightShadow isn’t it?”_

_Laura looked at the table and started tracing small circles on the edge of it. She could feel Carmilla’s inquisitive eyes on her but she didn’t take her eyes of the table._

_“I don’t know if it is a good idea Carmilla. Besides, why do you even care about her?”_

_She finally faced her but now the black haired girl was looking out the window, her eyes chasing the cars that went by on the street._

_“It’s not about her, it’s about these heroes or superheroes or whatever it is you call them” She scoffed “These lunatics who go around getting their ass kicked for nothing. It’s all for a book I’m writing. Actually it was Perry’s idea. Broadening the horizons and all that.”_

_You’re a bad liar Camilla Karnstein._

_“Look, I’m not too happy about it either, cupcake, so will you give me a help or what?”_

_“Okay, so what you’re telling me is you need some insight on NightShadow so you can write about a superhero? So, this is research and that’s it.” Laura questioned her and Carmilla leaned on the table and nodded._

_This is going to get you in trouble Hollis. You know, you can feel it creeping out right behind you. But you do owe her already. She did save you yesterday. Damn it._

_“Let’s say I agree to do this-“_

_“You’re worried about me spilling the beans.” Carmilla interrupted and caught her by surprise._

_She was taking a piece of paper from the middle of her book and a pen_

_“This is a confidentiality agreement. If I spill the beans I go to jail and have to pay you an exuberant amount of money I’m sure surpasses what I own.” She said while signing her name at the end of the paper “And that’s saying something.”_

_Laura was static looking at the paper that was now laying in front of her. This was not what she was thinking. She was just worried. Not about what she was going to write. About what she would find. About this. About her._

_“I guess you’ve really set your mind on this haven’t you.” Her eyes were wide open, she wasn’t used to the feeling of surprise._

_“I’m not hearing a no.”_

_And then she was looking at the other girl who was tapping her fingers on the table and waiting for her to make up her mind._

_“Fiiiiine.”_

_She relaxed into her chair while she saw Carmilla pursuing her lips to try to hide the victory smile and failing._

 

***

 

So it was weird the first couple of times they hang out together. 

She had taken Carmilla’s offer, not because she needed ride home. In fact, she had told the girl she would still walk home and she tried, but Carmilla followed her on the bike, slowing up traffic and not giving a damn about the alarming quantity of cars that were pilling up behind her and honking furiously. So she just took the ride that day...and all the other days.

Laura did tell her almost everything that she had been investigating has a journalist since she arrived to the city but she also got to know Carmilla and…it wasn’t so bad.

She learned that she had a brother, Will, who was away at college and deduced she lived alone since she never mentioned her parents.

Favorite color: obsviously black since most of her clothes were of that same color.

Laura tried asking about her writing but she would always change subject.

She was almost certain she was nocturnal, I mean, the girl was pale as a vampire for God sake! Besides, once, she told Laura it had been “a very complicated morning of sleep”. I mean, who says that?

And she was prone to disaster because every couple days she would have a new bruise. The last one was at her kitchen counter. Apparently it had “attacked her” leaving a nasty scratch on her side, right below her ribs.

Note so self: buy this girl an armor and maybe tell her to baby proof the house.

She would show her deep disapproval of Laura’s choice of entertainment, which meant every TV series and movies Laura watched, but she knows the other girl has been watching Doctor Who because she would catch the raven haired girl making subtle remarks on the characters and choice of historical events.

She would always try to sound as disaffected as she could at mostly anything.

It was like putting together piece by piece a never ending puzzle.

She found herself curious about the girl and started warming up to her. Yes, she was a mystery wrapped on a puzzle, wrapped on a weird amount of layers and holy Hufflepuff! She really got on Laura’s nerves sometimes.

Yet, she kind of wanted to know what was under those layers.

Most of the times there was this sassy, “I don’t give an absolute fuck” thing going on (and it was charming, and she knew it, damn it!) but there was more. There was something dark behind those eyes. She could tell she suffered. She could tell because she knew that look. She saw it everyday on the mirror. Still, there was something of a light in her.

Laura sighed.

This was not the plan, Hollis. Getting caught up in other people’s lives. That always leads to feelings, and feelings lead to pain, and pain leads to-. She stopped herself in front of the police station, looking at the stairs and sighed.

Too late to go back now.

Although she didn’t know if she was thinking about Carmilla or this.

Well, here goes nothing.

 

 

**Perry**

 

It had been exactly 20 minutes since she arrived and was watching LaFontaine struggle to measure what it seemed to be a liquid of some sort into a tube.

They were humming with discontent.They had their back turned to her so they hadn’t even noticed her.

6h40 PM.

She cleaned her watch’s screen for the fourth time.

LaFontaine had given her that watch last Christmas.

She caressed the bracelet and sighed silently.

It was a surprise really, because LaFontaine would always give her more practical gifts. Mainly because she asked. It was nice to have everything in order.

That Christmas, LaFontaine had given her what she asked but then she gave her another, small package with this watch.

 

_“I noticed you cracked the screen on yours the other day and I know how much you hate looking at the time on you phone so. Besides,  I guess, you can remember me when you wear it... since you're the one who keeps me from always being late for everything!" They were scratching the back of their head and smiling "Merry Christmas Perr!”_

 

Just remembering how nervous and shy they looked made her smile dearly.

6h50 PM

“Gotcha!” She heard them saying has they took notes on whatever subject they were studying.

She gave a little cough not to scare them and walked towards them. They still jolted and turned to face her, an immediate smile on their lips.

This made Perry look away for a second and smile back, a warm feeling settling on her chest.

She settled the tupperware she was carrying on the counter and sat on one of the stools right in front of LaFontaine.

“Eat. I bet you haven’t even seen anything besides that since lunch”

She was pointing at the counter and then she saw them blush and scowled.

“You didn’t even lunch did you?!”She could feel her own voice getting on a higher pitch.

LaFontaine was pouting and looking at the fresh cinnamon rolls she had baked for them.

“You hear me now LaFontaine, if you don’t start eating your meals, and I mean all your meals I will revoke your late night snacks privileges around the house!”

She knew LaFontaine would take this seriously, they had been living together for some years now but ever since they were kids LaFontaine would wake up in the middle of the night to eat. Perry wasn’t quite sure how was it that they always managed to find the snacks, even the ones she hid on the first nights at their new home, but they did. Always.

“You wouldn’t dare!”

They were now with a horrified expression while they stretched a hand to grab the first cinnamon roll, which Perry slapped smoothly and gave them a stern look.

“But Perrrrrr…Science!” They were pouting again, pointing at the tubes and several papers around the counter.

But then they gave in, sitting on the stool right next to Perry, slouching their shoulders.

“Fine, I promise to be more careful. Can I have one now?“

They turned to Perry but she was already holding a cinnamon roll in front of her. They smiled playfully at her and took a huge bite from it directly from her hand.

“I swear to God if you bite me!!”

But she felt a giggle brewing on her throat as she looked at LaFontaine, whose nose was now brown from sprinkled cinnamon. They were looking at her, a confused look on their face while they ate, and that only made her giggle storm out of throat.

She leaned in to clean the tip of their nose with a tissue, still with a smile on her face and gazing at her eyes. That warm feeling was clinging to her chest again. She could see LaFontaine glancing quickly at her lips and blushing slightly.

She knew what was going in their mind and kept looking deeply into their eyes. She could read their soul. They were scared of something, that’s why they wouldn’t say anything. Perry would wait. She has been waiting for sometime now, but she has time. She isn’t going anywhere. LaFontaine is definitely worth it. Sometimes it feels like it has been a lifetime, and maybe it has. I had been hard for her to finally come to terms with her feelings for them. How can you be friends for so long and not realize that you’re not just friends anymore?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a snarky voice at the door.

“Making out with your girlfriend, _Susan_?” said a skinny officer and three other were already grinning behind him. But as soon as they saw the look on Perry’s face they disappeared.

How dare they? I will burn them to the ground!

And then she was getting up like lightning and when she felt her hand being held delicately.

“Not worth it Perr” Lafontaine said trying to hide her sadness behind a small smile. She was still looking at the door but sat back on the stool. LaFontaine’s thumb was tracing circles on her palm and the tingling sensation was enough to settle her rage.

“This has to stop LaFontaine.”

“And it will. Just not like that.” She could feel them looking at her so she turned to face them. “Although I am sure you could kick their ass!” They smiled proudly.

“Of course I could.”

That answer seemed to make LaFontaine laugh and it was contagious because soon Perry was laughing too.

“Am I bothering?”

She looked towards the door of the laboratory and there was a brunette’s head popping at it’s side. Oh, it was that tiny journalist LaFontaine had talked about, the one who had done the piece of NightShadow and the one she had introduced to- oh boy.

She was smiling and looking between Lafontaine and Perry. LaFontaine was still trying to control her laughter so Perry took matters into her own hands approaching the tiny girl with her right hand held in front of her.

“Hello! You must be Laura” The girl took her hand and gave it and enthusiastic shake, that made Perry smile, and nodded “I’m Perry, Carmilla’s agent.”

“I know, I saw you the other day at the bar and Carmilla has mentioned you a couple of times” She had a friendly smile and honest eyes.

“She also talked about you sometimes”

“It’s pretty much all she’s been yapping about lately” Said a muffled voice from behind Perry, who was now glaring at them, making them widen their eyes quickly. It's okay, it’s okay, we can still salvage this.

“She is very methodical about her work Laura, that’s why she went to you.”

This seemed to stop the inquisitive look that was forming on the brunette’s face as she walked to sit on a stool in front of LaFontaine.

“That’s actually why I’m here. I need to ask you something LaF” She was looking a little nervous. Perry saw her breath in heavily “I know you can get in trouble just by taking to me but I could really use an insight on what the police recovered from the scenes four days ago when NightShadow stopped that shooting at the-“

“Ooooookay, let me stop you right there Hollis!”

LaFontained had gotten up but she didn’t seem mad. No, she was actually smiling. Perry knows that smile. There’s something going on. Is she going to give her-?

“Look, I can put in a good word with the chief but you know how he feels about your crow friends”

“I’m not going to publish anything, it’s just to establish behavioral patterns and…” The girl seemed to stop and think for a little “I’m not like them, you know that right? And I would never put your job at risk to publish a story. I promise you I won’t publish anything.”

LaFontaine nodded and got up stripping out her lab coat and dressing her coat. They then grabbed Perry’s arm driving her outside. What is she doing?

“Well, I really, really have to get some coffee and fresh air. Perr, will you come with me?”

They were walking past the brunette which had a distraught look on her face when the scientist winked at them.

“It’ll do me good and I think it’s safe to leave the files alone for five minutes.”

And then LaFontaine was dragging her again, literally pulling her out the room to the coffee machine at the end of the hall and that’s when she could finally breathe properly and speak.

“What were you thinking LaFontaine? You can lose your job!” She said quietly looking around to make sure no one was listening to them.

“You don’t even know her that well-“

“Perr, relax. Remember what Carmilla was telling me yesterday?”

 

***

 

_She had got to Carmilla’s house and they were talking, well it was a heated conversation to be honest because she could hear it from the door._

_“Give her anything she wants.”_

_They were on the kitchen and LaFontaine was changing the bandages on Carmilla’s side, where a bullet had grazed her at the shooting._

_“I can lose my job Carmilla”_

_She had been lucky._

_“She won’t publish it.”_

_A couple of inches to the left and…well, she prefered not to think about it._

_But Lafontaine sounded really worried._

_“How can you be so sure?”_

_“This is bigger than that. She is holding something and I want to find out why. And I will.”_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! I'm going to try and keep this weekly but I make no promisses!  
> For some reason this chapter was really hard to write. But I'm guessing the next one won't be easier!
> 
> Tumblr: http://rainbowpanda13.tumblr.com/


	4. It’s about truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm very sorry for the delay but I was down with a monster cold and then all the work I had to do accumulated and it was a massive shit show! Everything is back to normal now so, hopefully, I'll be back to posting these once a week (probably Saturdays or Sundays). Hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> Tumblr: http://rainbowpanda13.tumblr.com/

**Carmilla**

 

It’s already past 7PM, what the hell is taking her so long?

She has been waiting for Laura for some time now but then again, she was the one who said it was okay, that she would wait. But now she was getting impatient.

She looked at her phone for the hundredth time and saw that there was a text.

 

 **LaFontaine [7h16PM]** : Everything’s fine. She just left.

 **You [7h20PM]** : Roger.

 

She sighed. This weird feeling of betrayal has been hanging over her head for some days now.

She had a purpose, this was a mission. Laura had information that she needed, so she was going to get it.

Survival right? Know your threats and all that shit.

Except she has spent 2 weeks talking with Laura, getting to know her. The girl is charming. Like, this small ray of sunshine. Incredibly smart and dangerously sassy if you know what triggers her. But she is nice to Carmilla, even when the last is unpleasant. Which she knows she can be.

But oh, is Laura stubborn. It’s infuriating sometimes. Seriously!

She knows she loves what she does. She talks about her dad dearly, they seem to get along but she never mentions her mother. Carmilla never asked. It’s not that she doesn’t want to know but she has learned not to mess with things that are still. Besides, it wasn’t in her plans getting close with Laura. And she isn’t.

She hasn’t heard her talk about anyone besides her dad or her boss (who sounds like a dimwit). Not a soul besides that, a single friend. Why was that? She sure was the type of girl everyone would love to hang around. But then again, it isn’t like Carmilla is going to be best of friends with Laura, she just needs to know what she knows.

She tried bringing up college but Laura just flinched and changed subject. But she would talk for an excruciating amount of time about TV shows and movies, although she enjoyed books as well and, how the hell did this girl had time to watch and read everything with only 24h hours in a day?! Maybe she doesn’t need to sleep. Better, maybe she’s a vampire.

The thought made Carmilla chuckle lightly and shook her head, taking a sip from her coffee.

The girl is kindhearted and just. Honestly, she never met anyone like her. Carmilla doesn’t think she could go against her moral even if she wanted to. And she admires that, because it makes her character solid and strong.

God have mercy Karnstein, this girl is growing on you isn’t she?

 

***

_“You cannot be serious!”_

_“I’m dead serious cupcake, I have never heard of this “Doctor” you speak of. What’s his name again?”_

_But Laura was grunting in disapproval and searching in her bag for her phone. She laid it in front of her._

_“Write your number down, I’ll send you a link so you can watch it.”_

_Carmilla raised an eyebrow and smirked._

_“If you wanted my number you could’ve simply asked”_

_Laura blushed and looked back at her fiercely._

_“If I really wanted it I wouldn’t even have had to ask you for it”_

_Carmilla took a second to admire the girl in front of her. How can someone go from ray of sunshine to “get out the way, I’m coming through” in five seconds? She laughed and wrote the phone number down._

_Laura picked up the phone and sent her a blank text._

_“There. You can tell me what you think of it and besides, you can text me the information you need as you remember them so I can have the time to look it up”_

_She then dropped the phone back in her backpack._

_“Speaking of which. Do you want to go through anything specific today?”_

_“I was thinking that we could go around this sidekick’s theory of yours.”_

_Laura rolled her eyes and left out a sigh._

_“It’s not a theory Carmilla. It is physically impossible for someone to be able to do all that alone!” Carmilla was frowning but she continued “Look,” Laura pointed at a file “Two years ago, when she started, she would target minor incidents, street crimes, small arrests. That was it, for about a year. Then, about a year ago things started getting more serious. Bank robberies, drug lords…”_

_Carmilla moved in her chair trying to hide how uncomfortable she was that they were talking about herself. Worst, how uncomfortable she was that Laura knew so much. But for all she knew, Carmilla was just Carmilla and that was it. She_

_“Maybe she just wanted to prove something”_

_“Still. By then she started appearing with a new suit, new weapons. And she keeps upgrading them.”_

_Laura had written a kind of journal where she kept everything about these upgrades_

_“And the police hasn’t made any comments on this but I am pretty sure she is hacking into their terminal and their radio frequency.”_

_She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear_

_“She has someone helping her. I’m telling you. At least two or three people.”_

_Laura’s eyes were shinning. She really enjoys what she does doesn’t she? She should be a detective or something. Sure beats down the ones who have been tracking her, those lackwits.Still, she knew way more than Carmilla had expected. She had everything in this file, all the times she appeared, every crime she stopped. And she was suspicious that she wasn’t working alone. The question is: why isn’t she publishing all this._

_“Jesus Hollis, you know this borders the lines of stalking don’t you?”_

_She laughed, getting her right knee to her chest and resting her head on top of it._

_Laura stopped and stared at the file, closing it. She looked mad. Okay, maybe making fun of her work wasn’t the best idea._

_“Hey, hey, I was just kidding, creampuff.” She smiled towards Laura, trying to shake the tension between them. “ So… why haven’t you published all this? That seems like the kind of news everyone would read. “Maniac has other brainless maniacs helping her go around kick some butts”_

_Laura’s shoulders seemed to relax a bit. Yep, dodged a bullet._

_“It’s not about selling. Well, not for me. It’s about truth. And helping people.”_

_She took a deep breath looking outside. Carmilla was starting to know this look. There was sadness in her eyes, almost a darkness to it. Although she thought that to be impossible, Laura was possibly the nicest human being on earth._

_“If I just publish this I won’t be helping her and she helps, every day. I just want to help too. In my own way.”_

_It had been a week since the bike incident. Two weeks since they first met. And that same day she texted her._

 

_**You [10h02PM]** : This show is a waste of time. _

_**L. Hollis [10h03PM]:** Shut up and watch it Karnstein. _

 

***

 

She felt her lips forming a smile. Why was it that she would always smile when she was around?

It was nice having someone to talk to, someone to share. It's not like she doesn't have any friends. She has Perry and LaF. And evem JP. And she trusts them with her life. Literally. And they do know about her, about some of her past and about what goes on in her life. Why is it then that she feels at peace being around Laura? It's not like she shared a lot with her. The girl never pressures her for answers, which came as a surprise at first, her being a journalist and all. Maybe that's why she feels like being honest with her.

Except she can never be honest with her. Not entirely at least.

Carmilla placed a hand over her left ribs where the scratch from the bullet was almost healed but she could still feel bruising.

She can never tell her. She can never tell anyone else. And she certainly can’t put anyone else in danger.

Then why is she feeling so guilty?

Every time Laura talks about NightShadow her heart sinks. It’s not right, lying to her. She knows why she feels guilty. She is using Laura. This honest to God girl who just wants to help her, even if she doesn’t know she is doing it and she is just using her to know what to expect.

She does want to help doesn’t she? Maybe she would understand. Maybe.

But then again, she’ll never know.

 

**Laura**

 

She had walked (almost ran) to the coffee shop as fast as she could. It was late, Carmilla would have been waiting for over an hour now.

The sun was going down and everyone was heading home.

She could have gone home too but she still chose to wait for Laura, even if it was probably too late to talk about anything NighShadow related. And yet when Laura arrived Carmilla greeted her with a smile and hot coffee.

She really needed to relax and stop her inner rambling self as she tried to organize her thoughts on what she had just seen in LaFontaine’s police report. But everything was going on too fast inside her head.

Evidence disappeared. Vanished. Into thin air.

Blood analysis inconclusive.

The bullet recovered from the scene disposed of due to a system error.

All of this new information made her restless, but she needed to focus.

You know what this means Hollis, stop telling yourself you don’t.

Could it be? Could she have someone inside the police?

Carmilla was reading right in front of her, apparently realizing there wasn’t going to be much of a conversation for the next minutes. She isn’t going to tell her about what she discovered for now. It’s too soon, she needs to settle down and think this through. Besides, this is way too big and she barely knows her. Though there is something similar to trust starting to emerge from spending some time with Carmilla.

The girl switched page and hummed in an almost inaudible way that made Laura smile. She had her legs crossed and hair caught up in a ponytail and her eyes were drinking from the book like it was water on a desert. Her fingers had smudges of ink on them again.

She has been writing. I wonder if she would let me read it.

She had caught Carmilla reading sometimes before. She finds it is when she seems most peaceful. Like whatever it is that keeps her running disappears. And this girl runs. She can see her running even if she wants to look all disaffected.

We all have fears and we all run from them as fast as we can. Until we have to face them.

Sometimes she catches the dark haired girl mouthing the words, just like she was reading them out loud. She doesn’t like to stare for too long though. She’s afraid to break whatever spell the other girl’s under and she can see how much she needs to get away from whatever bothers her.

So she turns to look on the opposite direction of the window. The coffee shop is almost empty at this hour, just a couple of students here and there, working through their papers. There’s a table near the corner and two young girls are in a deep argument about something. One of them points at the book. The other one, who seems older, points at it harder and speaks briefly. Then the other girl seems to get really fired up about something. She starts talking and gesturing and goes on and on about something and by the end the other girl is staring at her smiling.

 

_“You can’t really expect me to agree with you when you don’t give any valid points to-“_

_Danny had agreed to help her with her English assignment but it was proving very frustrating._

_“I have given you as many valid reasons as there is Danny. It is about the questions that arise from loving someone without the same perspective on love as you. Flaws are flaws, and people still fall in love. You cannot argue with that.”_

_It was nice to be best friends with your English Lit TA but sometimes…_

_“I can argue that people have been studying this for years and they disagree with you.”_

_“Well maybe they were wrong.”_

_Danny grabbed a handful of her own hair throwing it to the other side of her head. Laura was getting on her nerves and she knew it but she wasn’t going to back of._

_“Well maybe you are wrong. Just because you want to read it in a romantic perspective it doesn’t mean the author wrote it to be romantic.”_

_Laura hissed at this and sat back on her chair, grabbing a mug of hot cocoa and sipping from it._

_“And just because you don’t want to view it that way it doesn’t mean it wasn’t!”_

_And then Danny was looking at her with a devious grin and suddenly she poked her mug making Laura spill hot cocoa, down her chin and all over the table in front of them._

_“Danny!!”_

_But Danny was already laughing, her head covered by her long, red hair, just dropped on the table in front of them._

_Laura tried to remain furious as she cleaned herself but it proved worthless. She started laughing as she nudged the side of Danny’s ribs and she flinched and laughed even more._

_And then they were engaging in a tickle war._

_Which Danny lost._

_Badly._

_When Laura finally stopped tickling her and she regained her breath, she looked at Laura smiling._

_“You know, I really like having you as a friend Hollis.”_

_“You’re not so bad yourself giant.” Laura smiled looking back at her._

_“Shorty”_

_Danny shoved her side and Laura threatened her with more tickling but instead hugged her._

_It was nice having someone you can trust._

_It was nice having a friend._

 

“Cupcake?” She heard a voice calling. “Are you okay?”

She turned to face Carmilla who had a worried look on her face. She had untied her hair, now laying on her shoulders.

How long was I out?

Laura cleared the knot that had formed on her throat, while she tried to dissipate the memory that had just slipped into her mind.

“Yeah, I’m fine”

She looked at the table where the two girls had been only to find it empty, only the cups and plates they had been drinking and eating from on it.

“Should we go now?”

 

***

 

They had left the coffee shop and Carmilla had driven her home, silently. Laura was realizing that they hadn’t exchanged that many words today.

As always, Laura got out from the bike, but today she gave a little flick on Carmilla’s helmet and she took it off her head, her black hair messy and wild.

“What was that for?”

She took Carmilla’s helmet from her hands.

“I would like you to come in and have dinner with me” The other girl showed no reaction whatsoever besides widening her eyes “I mean, you’ve been really nice all these days and since this is the last day you’ll be giving me a ride-“

“Why?” Carmilla interrupted her. “Have you found a better looking riding partner?”

She made a dramatic expression and Laura laughed nudging her softly with the helmets.

“They brought my bike back today” She pointed at the bike by the door “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you but I wanted to thank you some way and I thought dinner would be nice?”

Carmilla seemed to consider it for a while, looking between her and the door.

“Okay. But I’m warning you, I eat a lot.” She smiled “And I mean, a lot.”

Laura laughed.

“Not a problem, I’m sure it will be enough”

She started walking towards the door turning midways to look at Carmilla but still walking backwards.

“Besides, you’re paying for it. You’re bringing the bike up.”

She smiled as she opened the door and she heard Carmilla trying to protest.

 

**Carmilla**

 

Carmilla huffed as she settled Laura’s bike besides her door and closed it.

She could have warned me there would be stairs, Jesus Christ, those were four sets of stairs from hell.

She ran a hair through her hair and looked around. It was a small apartment. There was a couch and a small TV and sound system to the right, with a small table between them, and the kitchen was right to the left, with a table at the center. She could see three doors, so she figured it would be Laura’s bedroom, a bathroom and a closet or something. On the other side of the room there was a window with a seat and a bookshelf on its right. It was filled with books and some movies. Most of which where organized but some were out of place.

This is probably where Laura spends her time reading.

“So, this is home cupcake?”

Carmilla said looking around before looking at Laura. She was tying up her hair in a bun.

“Yeah, this is it. Tiny reporter, tiny home, I guess.”

She laughed at her own joke and put the sleeves of her shirt up.

She is such a dork.

“So, is there anything you don’t eat?”

Carmilla let herself fall on the couch which, kudos to the cupcake, was really comfortable, and she shook her head.

“Wait, should I be worried about food poisoning?”

“Why, you hurt me Karnstein. I’ll let you know I’m a good cook!”

Laura shoved her shoulder and hurried to the kitchen.

Carmilla just tried to relax on the couch. She still needed to get home and go on patrol. It’s the first day she is going back since the shooting some days ago, and she is starting to get restless.

It was nice not to worry about dinner though. And it was nice of Laura to invite her to her home.

I guess friends visit each other at home right?

Her heart felt heavy for a moment. There’s that guilt again. She sighed. Would it be so bad to be friends?

She looked around again trying to distract herself, settling her eyes on the bookshelf. She had a lot of different genres going on, classics but modern literature too and…wait, those books seem oddly familiar. Carmilla’s eyes widened and she got up, walking to the bookshelf. She took a quick look towards the kitchen where Laura was distracted preparing theeir meal.

Carmilla grabbed one of the books and scanned it. It wasn’t new. In fact, each one of them was a first edition and they had been read through. Some parts were even highlighted.

Wow, this is unexpected.

She closed the most recent one smiling as she caressed her own name on the cover. She had read her books. But then it really hit her.

Oh boy. She read the books.

“You know, the first time I read one of your books I thought to myself ‘Now there’s someone blessed with a powerful gift’”

Carmilla turned to see Laura right behind her, cleaning her hands to a kitchen cloth.

“Why didn’t you tell me, when we first met?”

Carmilla was stunned.

I guess we all keep our secrets.

“I figured if you wanted me to know you would tell me.” Laura threw the cloth on her shoulder, smiling. “But I have to say it has been hard, not telling you how much I admire your writing.”

Carmilla felt an unfamiliar heat on her cheeks as she set the book on its place. She didn’t really like talking about her writing with anyone. In fact, she never really met anyone who read them before. That’s because she didn’t want anyone idolizing her or treating her like she was something out of this world. Besides, her feelings were all over those pages. The only one who read them was Perry and it was only because everything had to go through her. She had even forbidden LaFontaine and JP from reading them, because she didn’t want them to ask questions about it. Although she was almost sure they did even if they never mentioned it, which she was greatful for.

So she breath in heavily, closing her eyes, bracing herself, waiting for Laura to start rambling about it, just like she has seen her do with her shows and other books.

But she only heard steps towards the kitchen and when she opened her eyes Laura was setting the table and serving dinner, smiling silently.

She couldn’t help to smile as she sat down and the girl started ranting about the latest episode of Doctor Who. 

What other surprises do you have waiting for me Laura Hollis?

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know that feeling when you have the all story in your head but you just don't have the time to sit down and write it? Yeah. It's hell.
> 
> Tumblr: http://rainbowpanda13.tumblr.com/


	5. You did this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a lot of work this last week, hence the chapter coming out a little later! Sorry about that guys, I'll keep trying to post once a week. Things are getting clearer with every chapter I write but there are still some lose ends that I have to think about. Enjoy!
> 
> Tumblr: http://rainbowpanda13.tumblr.com/

 

**Laura**

 

Laura is just finishing washing the dishes after dinner (Carmilla did try to convince her that it was only fair that she would do the dishes since Laura cooked but she pulled up the “my house, my rules” card and that was the end of it) when she notices that everything is very quiet, although she can hear a faint scratching noise, much like the noise of a pen against paper. She looks up from her shoulder to see that Carmilla is writing something on one of her books.

“Do you always make it a habit of going through peoples stuff like that?” Laura says smiling, turning to finish up with the dishes.

She hears Carmilla finishing up whatever she was writing and setting the book back on the bookshelf.

“Only when I know they don’t enjoy it.”

God, she’s such a smart ass. Laura huffs and Carmilla returns the book back to its original place.

“And here I was thinking it would be a privilege for you to have my first ever autograph.”

Laura stops to look at her for a second, her eyes wide open, her mouth gaping, surprise hitting her. _Did she just-_

“No. You’re not making a big deal out of this cupcake. Take it as a thank you note for dinner. Seeing that _someone_ wouldn’t even let me do the dishes.”

Carmilla smiled at her, turning herself to face the bookshelf again.

“So, how long have you been reading these?”

She could ask which books Carmilla is talking about but she knows perfectly what she means.

“I read the first one when I was still in college, I guess it was the year it got released. I like it, but I prefer the third one, I guess.”

Carmilla hummed. It almost seemed like she was surprised, probably because it is a bit dark. But she doesn’t really want to get into it, it’s weird enough that she has one of her favorite authors in her room and it would be painfully personal to talk about it with her. Laura hears her taking something from the bookshelf and her breath catches for a moment.

“How old is this picture?”

Laura doesn’t even have to look back to know what she’s talking about. Instead, she just keeps busy cleaning up everything.

“Hmm, around four years and a half, it was taken in college”

“Well, weren’t you the typical nerd” She says and Laura can hear it in her voice that she has a smirk on her face. “Who’s the girlfriend?”

Laura freezes for a second but rapidly resumes scrubbing a persistent spot on the counter.

“Not my girlfriend.” She says, trying not to be bunt but getting a feeling she’s not succeeding.

“Sure buttercup. She’s totally not giving you the heart eyes.”

Laura can hear the sarcasm in her voice and it annoys her, although she knows it shouldn’t. She doesn’t know and Laura doesn’t want to talk about it.

“Do you still keep in touch? With this not girlfriend, I mean?”

“She’s dead.” Laura says bluntly, her hands shake a little so she grabs the counter breathing in deeply. She can hear Carmilla setting the photograph of her and Danny back in place and she thinks she hears her whisper a _Fuck_.

“I’m sorry I-“

“It’s fine” Laura interrupts her “You didn’t know.”

It would be expected that after all these years she would be able to talk about it, that it wouldn’t hurt, that it would be fine. But every time she looks at that picture it all comes back. All that joy, their friendship, _her death_. And she knows that if she closes her eyes all she’ll be able to see are her friends eyes.

She shakes her head, turning to face Carmilla who has moved to stand against the back of the couch and is looking down, looking a little embarrassed. But then she looks at Laura with a soft look and it actually helps to ease all this pain.

“Look, I didn’t mean to pry and I’m sorry about that.” Laura sees her looking back at the picture and she mimics her “I know what it’s like to lose someone you love.”

Now Laura is just looking at Carmilla and guessing that she’s reminiscing in her own memory lane. And she wants to tell her that she figured that reading her books. And that they helped her get through it. Somehow, knowing she wasn’t alone helped.

“If you ever feel like talking about it, I promise I’ll listen.” She looks at Laura with a faint smile that quickly turns into a smirk “More than your eternal ramblings about Harry Potter”

And then Laura is sending the kitchen cloth flying across the room to hit her on her stomach and Carmilla pretends that she was just hit by a bullet or something and lets herself fall on the floor, dramatically, which makes Laura giggle. She approaches the black haired girl lending her a hand and helping her up as Carmilla throws the cloth gently back to her.

“Seriously though.” She has this serious look on her face, her eyes looking deeply into Lauras. She’s picking up her coat and walking to the door. “I’m an asshole, but these” She points at her ears “aren’t usually affected by that” Laura rolls her eyes, despite the fact that she is smiling and shoves Carmillas shoulder.

“Thank you Carm.”

She feels a warmth in her chest and it must take over her brain because next thing she knows she’s leaning in and planting a soft kiss on Carmilla’s cheek. Her face is cold and she can almost swear she felt her skin shiver and her face muscles tense but when she takes a step back to look at her, Carmilla is already turning around and going down the stairs.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” She throws over her shoulder and Laura can swear she saw a smile on Carmillas face.

“I don’t need a ride, remember?” She shouts.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, cupcake” It’s the last thing she hears when Carmilla’s already out of sight and it makes her wonder if this is what it feels to have a real friend again. It’s been so long she almost forgot how much better life can be.

 

***

 

_“What are you doing Danny? Get out of there!”_

_Laura feels out of breath, like she just ran a marathon without a single stop. Danny is standing on the edge of a bridge, looking down, this weird look in her eyes._

_“ Are you hearing me you stupid giant? Get the hell down from there, you’ll end up hurting yourself.”_

_Her voice is shaking, she feels her heartbeat on her throat and then she hears her voice._

_“I’m sorry Hollis. Tell my mom I’m sorry yeah?”_

_What the hell is she talking about? Laura takes a step towards her but she shuffles away and seriously, she is starting to get on my nerves._

_“Wh-what’s going on Danny? Just talk to me.”_

_Laura can see her shaking. Her knuckles are so tightly pressed that she can see Dannys hands turning white, her shoulders tense and her head bowed._

_“Just promise me. Promise me you’ll tell them I love them.” She moves a hand through her hair “And Kirsch. Take care of that idiot. God, he’ll hate me.”_

_Danny lets out a nervous breath looking up to the sky before smiling but that vanishes immediately as she looks into your eyes._

_“I have to do this.”_

_Laura wants to scream at her, tell her she’s an idiot but her throat shuts down on her. Danny must sense she is about to cry because she smiles, that sweet smile._

_“I’m not scared you know? I’m not scared”_

_She repeats this a couple of times and it’s almost like she is trying to convince herself rather than Laura._

_She probably knows that Laura is about to make a move and grab her because she puts her hand up and looks into Laura’s eyes._

_“Don’t forget it yeah shorty? Just, don’t give up yeah?”_

_She’s smiling and her eyes have the same old determined look that they’ve always had and for a moment Laura thinks this is just a prank and everything will be okay._

_But then she is taking a step forward and Laura is covering her mouth and running to the hedge but she is gone._

_Laura feels like her insides are being torn apart and everything is spinning and she has trouble breathing._

_Everything stops. There’s no sound. There’s nothing. Just nothing. And for a second panic takes possession of her soul._

_But then she knows this will all be over in just a couple of seconds._

 

She wakes up with a jolt, tears already filling her eyes and sweat covering her all body.

It’s been a week since the incident after dinner.

Carmilla told her she could talk to her. They have been together every day, Carm makes sure to wait for her at their little coffee shop after she gets out of work. Laura has been apathetic, moody even, but Carmilla is patient with her. Honestly, she thought the girl would just give up and stop coming but she never did.

She knows Carmilla is worried. Not that she asks Laura anything about it. It’s her look and the way she chooses her words, carefully, afraid of hurting her maybe? She’s trying to show Laura she can trust her and that, maybe, talking about it might actually be of some help.

_“You know, keeping all that shit to yourself will eat you up inside”_

And when she answered that the same could be said to Carmilla she just shrug.

_“Who says I don’t have my ways of dealing with it?”_

God, she’s infuriating sometimes.

And now Laura is stuck with these nightmares every single night and what can she do? She’s been dealing with it for about 4 years now and she’s doing just fine. Right?

_Keep telling yourself that Hollis._

But seriously what is she supposed to do? Just spill everything about it to Carmilla? Sure there’s that stupid thing she signed a couple of weeks ago but this is so much bigger than that. It’s not that she doesn’t trust her, because deep down she knows she does. But she’s afraid.

Then again she barely sleeps already and it would be really nice to have a couple of hours of dreamless rest.

Laura takes a glance to the pen drive on her side table and sighs.

_What are you thinking moron? You haven’t shared this with anyone. Well, except Kirsch, but he deserved to know._

_What if she just spills everything?_

It takes her another weekend without any sleep and the fact that she is starting to look like something out of The Waking Dead until she is at the park, sitting, waiting for Carmilla, while she grabs on tightly to the pen drive on her chest and praying to God that she isn’t making the worst decision of her life.

 

**Carmilla**

 

It’s 9AM and Carmilla knows she’s going soft because there’s no way on Earth or Hell she would be up at this ungodly hour let alone walking through the park. But honestly she is a little worried about Laura. Okay, maybe she’s a lot worried. And feeling like crap.

Ever since that dinner, a week ago, when she made the awful mistake of pushing Laura just a little too far that the girl isn’t quite herself. She keeps dozing off, she barely speaks and she looks like she hasn’t slept in days. Well, Carmilla knows for a fact she doesn’t sleep much but honestly, something’s not right.

And she feels guilty about it. Ever since, she has tried everything. Hot chocolate seems to cheer her up a bit and so do the cookies she as asked Perry to bake for her (which ended up with her almost strangling LaF so they would stop teasing her about how this was a very weird strictly business relationship), but she still can’t get that warm smile out of her.

And it’s killing her.

 

_“C’mon cupcake, what is up with you? I can’t believe I’m about to say this but, you have barely made a nerdy joke or a Hogwarts reference in a week and I’m starting to worry about you.”_

_Laura looks at her cup of hot chocolate, whirling it and Carmilla is not sure she heard her._

_“You wanna talk about it?”_

_“No.” Laura answers, mumbling almost inaudibly with something of a pout._

_“It speaks!”_

_Laura looks at her and she thinks that if she wasn’t feeling so down she might be flipping her off right now but, hey, she’s not complaining because at least it shows her some of that fierce that she’s gotten used to see in Laura._

_“Look, you don’t have to speak to me but, please, speak to someone about it.”_

_Laura is still looking at her, her expression unreadable and it’s infuriating how stubborn she can be._

_“Jesus Christ Hollis, just snap out of it!”_

_Her expression changes a bit, from apathetic to surprised or mad or maybe both and it doesn’t matter because now Carmilla knows she has struck a nerve._

_“You know, keeping all that shit to yourself will eat you up inside.”_

 

This was definitely not the plan.

Carmilla stopped trying to tell herself that this is all about keeping an eye on Laura a week ago. Let’s just face it, the cupcake is annoying as hell but she also made her way into Carmilla’s routine and ended up becoming her friend.

And this is what you do for friends. You wake up early on the day after you’ve taken a bit of a beating by three thugs that were trying to rob a store. Not that she didn’t leave them bleeding on the floor, feet and hands tied together. She chuckles a little.

Thankfully she learned early on to cover her head so there are no visible marks. The same can’t be said for her arms, back and torso but hey, at least there were no knives or guns involved.

She closes her leather jacket, covering her chest and thank God she’s wearing pants because it’s getting colder by the day. Hell might freeze by December.

She looks at her phone again, reading Lauras last text.

 

 **Laura [8h30AM]** : Meet me at the park? Left side of the lake.

 

Carmilla didn’t need to ask why because Laura hasn’t texted her in a week so clearly she’s either gonna tell Carmilla to back the fuck off or she finally decided to just let go of the damn thing. Or she’s going to murder her because there’s literally no one else at the park today, and yeah, that would suck.

She sees Laura’s figure at a distance. She’s sitting at a bench facing the lake, under this big tree, her hair a little damped, probably from the morning dew. God knows how long she’s been here.

Carmilla clears her throat when she’s approaching to warn her that she’s there and Laura turns, throwing her a faint smile.

_Ok, maybe murder is out of the equation._

She sits by Laura’s side, looking at the girl. She has baggy eyes ( _she hasn’t slept again_ ) and her cheeks are pink, probably from the cold. She looks a little tense, her long coat open to reveal a shirt and jeans, and of course that ridiculous pen-drive necklace she always wears. Except she is grabbing it like someone’s going to try and yank it from her chest any second now and that’s when Carmilla feels that something’s off.

She has tried asking Laura what’s going on, she has tried persuading her into telling her what’s been eating her up lately, although she is fairly sure she knows what this is about. She didn’t tell her, of course, but she did a little digging of her own about her friend. Well, actually she asked LaF to do so, but then when they gave her the file she couldn’t bring herself to read it.

Because she felt like this was Laura’s story and she should tell it, when and if she wanted to.

“Thank you for coming Carm. I know you’re not a morning person.”

Laura’s voice woke her up from her thoughts and she hummed in response. She heard Laura breath in heavily and she saw her give another squeeze to her necklace.

“I’m sorry I kinda shut down this last week, it’s just…I guess you kind of struck a nerve back at my house and I wasn’t being able to shake it off.”

Carmilla opens her mouth to apologize again but Laura cuts her off.

“And I guess you’re right, maybe I do need to talk about it. Maybe it has been too long.”

She shifts her weight and crosses her legs on the bench.

“Danny and I met at college, my Junior year. She was my English Lit TA and a huge pain in the ass.” She let out a nervous smile. “But then I got to know her and we became friends. I mean, when you asked if she was a girlfriend, I guess that was what struck a nerve. There was something, for a while, but it didn’t work out. We were just looking for different things, so we just ended up being friends.”

She looks at the lake, her hands on her knees. The sun was going up and as it hit her face, her eyes turned into honey and Carmilla stared into them when she turned to face her.

“A year after we met, it’ll be 4 years in December, Danny sent me a text to meet her. She asked to meet at this bridge where she and Kirsch, that was her, well, I guess they never made it official but they totally had a thing for each other and, it doesn’t really matter. They used to go there and have this stupid competitions on who could throw stones further. They would spend whole afternoons there.”

Carmilla can see in Laura’s eyes that she is reminiscing so she just lets her talking, not making a sound.

“When I got there she was…she was standing at the edge, you see.” Her eyes start watering and Carmilla feels her chest tightening. Oh hell… “She just jumped, Carm.”

Laura’s eyes are filled with tears and Carmilla just slips her hand between the other girls knee and hand and grabs onto it tightly, giving her strength to continue.

“She just left. I was to mad. How could she? Why would she make me watch her…”

Her voice catches and she cleans her face from the tears that go down her cheeks.

“That first year was hell. Her family was devastated, her mom wouldn’t even look at me. Kirsch shut down completely. Eventually dropped out of college because everything reminded him of her. I guess I know what that’s like. I just buried myself into college work. And a lot of alcohol.”

She took a couple of seconds to steady her voice, clearing her throat and she squeezed Carmilla’s hand.

“I’m sorry about your friend, cupcake.”

Laura nodded as she breath in the cold breeze.

“Yeah, that would be bad enough wouldn’t it?”

Carmilla furrows her eyebrows.

“But here’s the thing. Something never added up. Why did she ask me there? And why would she do it? I mean, Danny was one of the strongest persons I ever met and she was happy. She had her family, Kirsch, the Summer Society, sports and she was happy you know? So a year latter, one day I was visiting her grave and her mom showed up.”

Carmilla waits for Laura to finish her story but something seems to have stopped her, and she can almost hear her think.

But then she is taking her necklace out and turning up Carmilla’s hand, the one she was previously grabbing, and placing the pen drive in it.

“There’s only two people in this world who ever saw the full content of this.”

She closes Carmillas hand around the necklace and suddenly it hits her how big this is and how this is definitely not what she was expecting. She closes her grip on the pen drive, staring at her own hand and nodding.

Laura doesn’t speak much more after this, she seems kind of exhausted, ready to sleep for a whole week and Carmilla can’t really blame her because, wow. This is too much information to process.

She looks at the necklace that she chose to put around her own neck in an attempt to prove to Laura that she will cherish her trust and she thinks it works because her face lights up a little as soon as she sees it there.

She walks Laura to her home, afraid she might pass out somewhere, but how it is that she ends up sitting on Lauras couch, with the other girl sleeping on her side, she does not know.

She sets the reporters’ computer on the arm of the couch, plugging the pen drive and as she starts reading the first document Laura pulls herself closer, placing her head on Carmillas lap and grabbing the hem of her shirt. She lowers herself a bit to make room for her head and can’t help but smile because, yes, Laura is usually pretty cheerful already but she seems so peaceful sleeping.

“I’ll do my best not to betray your trust in me cupcake, God knows I don’t desserve it but still,” She whispered, lowering a hand to nudge a strand of hair from Lauras face.

 

***

 

Carmilla has been pacing in her room for a long time now. She knows it’s been long because her feet are starting to ache and her tights are tense.

She tried training a bit before, to help her clear her mind but obviously that didn’t work out. It only made her angrier and upset.

What the hell was she supposed to do with this? Why did Laura had to go and show her all this shit? Really, she’s finally in a good place in her life and the past comes to bite her in the ass. Typical.

She can’t make up her mind about it. Should she tell Laura? Maybe she already knows? She’s going to hate her. Although it isn’t her fault, she knows it isn’t, but still. There’s a connection, unfortunately, if she may say. The thought makes her sick.

She re-read the files Laura gave her three days ago, dozens of times now.

_Were you waiting for the letters to rearrange Karnstein? Fucking shit._

Danny Lawrence was a young woman, no criminal charges, an impeccable record and impressive grades in most of her classes. She played sports, was in something called the Summer Society? That name rings a bell for some reason but Carmilla can’t quite place it. She had no apparent reason to kill herself and still.

If nothing of this made sense before reading the contents of that god forsaken pen drive, the same can’t be said now.

She hears her phone, it’s probably another text from Laura. She might kind of been avoiding her lately, ever since that day.

And Laura must be thinking about it and worrying that stubborn head of hers until it explodes but she really needs to think this through.

Because Danny didn’t kill herself. Someone made her do it.

Her chest is heavy and she’s griting her teeth. Carmilla stops in front of an old photo, looking at a young woman, much like her physically, her expression stern while she holds her father’s arm. Her grip tenses around the frame and for a second she thinks she might even throw it against the wall but then just puts it back in place.

 

_You did this._

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Please leave some feedback! I'm totally open to constructive criticism!!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Please leave some feedback! I'm totally open to constructive criticism!!
> 
> Tumblr: http://rainbowpanda13.tumblr.com/


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